Minister in Charge of Giving Money to Terrorists Complains US Isn’t Sending Money

The Palestinian Authority’s Social and Prisoners’ Affairs Minister Shawqi al-Ayasa said Sunday that the unity pact signed in June between the PA and Hamas was working with a budget that was “below zero,” signaling deep financial difficulties to to run bureaucratic institutions.

“The US has not provided a single penny since Jan. 1, and Europe and Arab states only provided a third of what they were scheduled to give,” al-Ayasa told the Palestinian news agency Ma’an.

The Prisoners’ Affairs provides money to terrorists and the families of terrorists of both Hamas and the PLO. Specifically those terrorists locked up at some point by Israel.

Much of the Palestinian Authority’s budget goes to that.

Ayasa’s claim is also a bit suspicious since the US made it clear several times that it was not suspending aid to the PA over the unity agreement between Hamas and the PLO.

The PA was supposed to get $440 million in 2014. As recently as July, Kerry announced $47 million in aid for Gaza, much of it going through USAID. None of this counts UNRWA money either.

Supposedly the aid was linked to peace talks progress which Abbas sabotaged, but I have trouble believing that the PA didn’t get any money.

Furthermore no money at all was supposed to pass through any Prisoners’ Affairs people since that means directly funding terrorism. The PA instead moved that over into the PLO which is actually running the PA. So why is a guy whose job title isn’t supposed to exist anymore demanding US money that he isn’t supposed to be able to access?

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.

Bamaguje

“…no money at all was supposed to pass through any Prisoners’
Affairs people since that means directly funding terrorism” – Daniel Greenfield.

And how would the U.S. ensure that?
Which ever way Obama administration chooses to spin it, funding PA-Hamas coalition amounts to sponsoring terror… because even if American money is not directly used to compensate jailed Jihadis, such funding enables Palestinians to divert other resources to funding terror.
In any case why isn’t the PA-Hamas coalition looking up to the oil rich Gulf Arabs for funding?

uleaveuswithnoalternative

This is so convoluted.
USAID was begun by John Kennedy in 1961 in order to oversee aid given to foreign countries to promote social and economic development.
USAID seems to be connected to or at least has aligned itself with the United Nations and promotes the same goals as the UN.
USAID operates subject to the foreign policy guidance of the President, Secretary of State, and the National Security Council.
USAID requires NGOs to sign a document renouncing terrorism, as a condition of funding.

The US has recognized Hamas as a terrorist organization since 1997.
So how does the United States justify sending vast amounts of money to terrorist organizations?